By Roger Clemens Do you have a degree in financial management, accounting, business administration, or economics? If so, you may want to consider becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
The aforementioned degrees, along with several specialty degrees, fall right in line with a career as a CPA. In fact, many CPAs earn more money when they have degrees in taxation, public administration, and forensic accounting.
If you’re not yet convinced, here are 5 compelling reasons to get your CPA certification.
- If you have a qualifying degree, CPA certification won’t take long
If you already have a degree that qualifies you to take the CPA exam, the process to become a CPA won’t take long. Most people get certified within 18 months; however, it’s been done in half the time.
Presuming you have a qualifying degree in accounting and you meet state requirements, you can expect to get your certification in a year to a year and a half.
Passing the CPA exam is going to be challenging no matter how good you are at studying and remembering information. You’ll need to devote a couple hundred hours to studying and if you want to pass on the first try, you’ll need to take a CPA prep course.
Taking a prep course is the most important part of passing the exam. A prep course offers practice exams structured just like the real exam so you can get a good idea of what’s involved. Many prep courses also offer predictive scoring, which will help you determine how you’ll do on the real exam.
- You can work from home
Remote jobs are becoming the standard in just about every industry, including the financial world. Every job a CPA could possibly perform can be done from home with an internet connection. In fact, even back in 2018, 43% of accounting firms allowed their employees to work from home.
If you thought you’d have to work in a physical office to prepare tax returns for a firm, think again. One of the newest gigs for remote CPAs is working for a tax prep outsourcing firm.
Businesses that provide outsourced tax preparation hire freelance CPAs to manage a hefty workload. Having a bunch of freelancers do the work allows a business to complete a large volume of returns in a short period of time.
You might be surprised to learn that outsourced tax prep businesses don’t just prepare individual tax returns. Their biggest customers are tax firms.
- You’ll get job stability
Job stability is important in our rapidly changing world. Stability is even more important now that the coronavirus pandemic has shaken up the economy. While some experts say the United States is headed into a recession, not everyone agrees. However, if those experts are correct, your services will still be needed in a down economy.
People must pay income taxes even in a recession. They might not pay as much since business will likely be slow, but there will always be a need for tax preparation services and tax advice.
- You’ll enjoy your work
If you love crunching numbers and preparing financial documents, you’ll love being a CPA. Like all professions, there will be challenging moments and difficult times, but when you love what you do, it’s easier to push forward despite challenges.
People become a CPA for all kinds of reasons, yet the one thing they have in common is they enjoy their craft. If you need inspiration, check out these testimonials from CPAs who love their job.
Other people, like Alexander Efros, got into accounting after being inspired by a professor. It wasn’t his first choice for a career, but it quickly became his passion.
- You’re not stuck preparing taxes
CPAs have a reputation for preparing taxes, but that’s not the only gig you can get as a CPA. There are plenty of ways to work with financial data as a CPA, for example, you might decide to specialize in fraud auditing also known as forensic accounting. Or, you might specialize in financial consulting.
You can also work for a specific type of company, like a non-profit or a government organization, which will add plenty of variety to your routine.
Becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is a rewarding career
Whether you’ve completed the required education yet or not, becoming a CPA is worth the time and effort. You’ll get perks like career stability, high-paying opportunities, and the convenience of working from home.
Lorenzo Billie 
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